Peter
Pan is
one of the
best of Disney's classic animated productions. The film feels
"timeless" in
many regards and is one which can be easily revisited time after time
again
(and with close ones; family and friends). The film was an incredibly
ambitious
project for Walt Disney. The project has remained one of the most
essential
films in the entire filmography of Disney as a company and it is still
well worth
remembering, enjoying, and sharing as a simple story that overturned
and transcended
its simplicity at every turn.

Peter
Pan, a young storybook character from the magical "Never Land" comes to
visit
Wendy and her young brother siblings (along with Tinker Bell, the fairy
who
provides "a little bit of Pixie dust" that allows the characters to fly
as the
story progresses). The young children that cherish the story of Peter
Pan are
told by their parents to "Grow Up!" and to essentially stop listening
to a
story of adventure and far-away lands.

Yet
the children loved stories about the adventurous and good-hearted boy
who "wouldn't
grow up" named Peter Pan. Upon hearing about the notion of growing up
being
presented to them, it frustrates Peter and he decides to take them with
him and
Tinker Bell to Never Land, where he promises the children that no one
would
ever have to grow up there. The only problem is that soon they will all
face
the wickedness of the mean-spirited Captain Hook, a vengeful pirate
determined
to kill the spirited Peter Pan.

Click on
image to view a Blu-ray screenshot
with 1080p resolution

What
will happen to Wendy and her siblings? Can Peter Pan defeat Captain
Hook? These
are the main narrative questions (though the big, relevant, and
essential idea
of the film is to ask what it means to grow up and what this has to do
with the
power of imagination). The adventure
begins and further ensues in this strange land of children's tales come
to life
in animated magnificence brought to the world from the geniuses at
Disney
studios.

Peter
Pan was
made, in
part, to remind both young and old of a specialness that is found with
childhood,
with imagination, and with the vibrancy and wonderment of life as seen
from the
viewpoint of a sweet-natured child. Peter
Pan is about the imagination and spirit of children. Disney was
always a
child at heart himself and someone who "didn't want to grow up". He
constantly
dreamed big dreams and worked hard to make those become realities that
could
impact the dreams of children and adults everywhere around the world.
He
believed in his medium. Disney always held true to his belief in the
art found
in animation, and he was a genuine storyteller with a clear
understanding of
his craft.

The
entire idea to make the film was something that he carried with himself
from an
early age. I suppose it probably began to formulate as an idea when he
was read
the story of Peter Pan. Perhaps it
also had something to do with his performance as Peter Pan himself in a
young
children's school play. Regardless of the specific moment in which one
would
argue this adaptation was truly conceived, Disney waited many years
before
bringing this idea into production. He wanted to wait for the artistic
capabilities
and technologies to improve in capability before attempting to produce
what was
one of his most personal projects. The determination to wait for the
"right"
time seems to have paid off because the artistry the filmmakers display
is
remarkable indeed.

Everyone
who worked on this remarkable animated production helped to make Disney
succeed
in bringing his creativity and ambition to the forefront regarding the
creation
of a successful adaption of Peter Pan.
The final effort is a reflection of Disney's inventiveness and of the
immense skill
of everyone he worked with at his company.

Click on
image to view a Blu-ray screenshot
with 1080p resolution

If
there is anything to criticize about this film, it's the stereotypical
and racist
depiction of the Native American Indians in the film. The film is
unfortunately
a product of its time and when Peter Pan was made there was a lot of
racism in
film in how Native Americans were depicted: Disney productions
included. A conversation
with children who have yet to experience Peter
Pan would be a worthy endeavor for all families to partake in.

The
animation is breathtaking, even today, and the artistry of the
animators who
worked to make Peter Pan an animated
sensation did a splendid job. The character designs are unique, the
layout
designs beautiful, and there is a real sense of energy and motion in
the way
the animators made the characters interact. One has only to look at
Peter Pan,
Wendy, and company flying through the air to see one of the most
spectacular
wonders in animation. To realize that the film has a surprisingly
multi-faceted
approach to landscapes and far-away wonders of Never Land is an
important step
in recognizing the full artistry of this production.

In
a way, it makes perfect sense that Disney would want Peter
Pan to be one of the crowning achievements in animated filmmaking.
The project was a favorite of his from childhood, but something about
it speaks
clearer to the ideas of a Disney film than
anything else ever made from the company: the spirit of youth, of
adventure,
of creativity, of believing in something outside of the "ordinary", and
of the
flight of an imagination. It's an animated masterpiece.

Click on
image to view a Blu-ray screenshot
with 1080p resolution

The
Blu-ray:

Video:

Peter
Pan has
been a
subject of controversy for years now with regards to its home video DVD
presentation.
I hoped that some of the issues that caused the problems with the
Special
Edition DVD edition would be rectified for this High Definition Blu-ray
release. Unfortunately, that's not the case. The color-timing and
actual colors
have been altered somewhat from the original form. Some elements are
intact while
other moments demonstrate Disney altering animation a number of
hard-working
animators worked to create when the film was originally made. This was
likely
done to try and modernize the art style, but it essentially robs the
film some
of its original artistry and it's disappointing and disrespectful to
those
involved in animating it. It definitely doesn't make this an entirely
authentic
presentation.

Disney
should have gone back and provided us with the film with the entirely
intact original
animation. Unfortunately, the company has not done so. It appears they
want to
stick to the newer colors seen on the Special Edition DVD.

Grain
was removed from Peter Pan as well. This may have had a slight impact
on the softness
level noticeable in select scenes. Many viewers will be much more
appreciative
that the film appears smooth in texture than to find film grain left
intact. In
fact, this doesn't bother me anywhere near as much as the digital
tinkering to
the original animation color-schemes.

On
a technical level, the Blu-ray appears to be almost flawless but film
fans who
consider themselves film preservationists will be disappointed that the
film
hasn't been given a faithful presentation. I am giving the video
score a lower rating as a result.

Audio:

The
7.1 DTS-HD Master Audio presentation is amazing for
the most part. It's
surprisingly brilliant as a sound mix considering the fact that this is
just a
new mix utilizing old sound elements which are clearly
dated. Some elements to the sound design still sound, well,
as someone would expect for a film of its age.

However,
the dialogue is mostly crisp and the soundstage
is active and engaging without sounding as if it was tampered with.
This was an
impressive effort by Disney to make an engaging new mix with modern
technology.

The
mono presentation found accompanying it's
theatrical release has also been included. However, Disney has only
included it
with lossy Dolby Digital encoding technology. The presentation could
have
benefited from a high-resolution presentation and it's a let-down
(however
unsurprising) that Disney did not bother to do so.

Subtitles
are provided in English SDH (for the deaf
and hard of hearing), Spanish, and French.

Additional
Screenshots:

Click on
an image to view a Blu-ray
screenshot with 1080p resolution

Extras:

The
new
video supplements are provided entirely in High Definition. Previously
existing
DVD supplements are also provided on this release (mostly in standard
definition) although some of these featurettes have been given high
bitrates so
they have fewer compression problems. The bulk of those extras are
still in SD
though (despite healthier bitrates).

Full
Length Audio Commentary is
provided by Roy Disney, who
utilizes notes to provide commentary from many of the individuals
involved in
making Peter Pan.

Introduction
by Diane Disney-Miller.
This
is a
brief introduction to the film with some repeat footage found on other
Disney
releases with introductions by Diane Disney-Miller, followed by new
footage that
is specific to her talking about Peter
Pan.

Growing
Up with Nine Old Men (41
min.) is documentary in which children are interviewed
about their experiences growing up with Disney's "Nine Old Men" (the
creative
individuals Disney considered his most essential partners in
filmmaking).

Deleted
Songs and Scenes (15
min.) consist of two additional deleted songs and scenes which were
never
finished but are at last presented via rough concept art and
storyboards.

Classic
DVD Bonus Features are
provided in two sections: Backstage Disney and Music
& More.

The Backstage Disney section includes 65 minutes of
previously released
supplemental material.

The
following featurettes are
included: You Can Fly: The Making of
Peter Pan, In Walt's Words: Why I
Made Peter Pan (a nicely-done reading of an article written by
Walt Disney
about why he made the film), Tinker Bell:
A Fairy's Tale (about the character and the animator responsible
for bringing
the character to animated life), The
Peter Pan that Almost Was (which details possible storylines and
artistic
decisions that were considered for the film), and The
Peter Pan Story, an older featurette that appears to have been
created when the film was originally released.

The Music & More section contains viewable song-only
selections, deleted
songs, and music videos by Paige
O'Hara and T-Squad.

This
Blu-ray release also includes
optional "Disney Intermission" (which is designed as a way to entertain
young
children while the movie is on pause by providing clips, activities,
and more),
a Peter Pan Sing-Along (which is based on standard subtitles), and a
DisneyView
Side Bars (the animated side-bars used to replace simple back
side-bars). Again,
I will reiterate that all of the supplements mentioned in this section
are
optional. I would personally not recommend
them.

Sneak
Peaks
consists of trailers for Disney films soon to appear in theaters or on
home media
in new editions.

Click on
image to view a Blu-ray screenshot
with 1080p resolution

Final
Thoughts:

It
helps the film hold luminous and incandescent ground as a meaningful
part of
film history that so many individuals in the company brought so much
artistic worth
forward in working on Peter Pan. The
film has immense beauty and it's a classic children's story that can
appeal to
an adult as much as a child. You just have to have an imagination.

The
Blu-ray presentation is the most impressive technical presentation of Peter Pan I have seen to date, but the
altered colors (also present with Disney's former Special Edition DVD
release) disappoint.
This is a worthy Blu-ray release, but only because the film is a
masterpiece
and it appears as though Disney won't be bothered to present the film exactly as intended anytime soon.

Recommended.

Neil Lumbard is a lifelong fan of cinema. He aspires to make movies and has written two screenplays on spec. He loves writing, and currently does in Texas.